JamieJ
Well-known member
I took a chance on this through eBay. The seller had said that it had been sat in a box for 20 years and didn’t work. They go on reverb (for examples in better condition than this one) for £350-£580 so I took a punt and won it for £161 thinking there’s a good chance to get my money back or more.
Obviously it’s in “slightly” used condition and has been modded at some point with side jacks and a 9v jack added. It looks like there was probably a battery disconnect switch added to the top and an LED above the foot switch. Some of the soldering is pretty crappy so I’m assuming that’s from a previous owner who modded it rather than from the factory.
On peeking inside there is an in stamp from 1973 but I can’t make out the month. From a bit of searching online these 3 transistor tremolos were made from 71-75. I’ve found it hard to find a schematic I trust.
Look at these 70’s WIMA caps
Tonight I have reflowed some of the suspect joints. As it’s already been converted to a 9v supply via a jack - I swapped that out and got rid of some of the clipped off wiring.
I’ve only managed a 10 minute play through it but it works perfectly. I’m enjoying it set fairly shallow as a subtle tremolo and it fits an unused space on my board perfectly.
When I bought it as broken/for parts - I planned to fix it up and sell it again but I might hold onto it for a bit to see if it’s worth keeping. It’s crazy to think it’s 50 years old.
Obviously it’s in “slightly” used condition and has been modded at some point with side jacks and a 9v jack added. It looks like there was probably a battery disconnect switch added to the top and an LED above the foot switch. Some of the soldering is pretty crappy so I’m assuming that’s from a previous owner who modded it rather than from the factory.
On peeking inside there is an in stamp from 1973 but I can’t make out the month. From a bit of searching online these 3 transistor tremolos were made from 71-75. I’ve found it hard to find a schematic I trust.
Look at these 70’s WIMA caps
Tonight I have reflowed some of the suspect joints. As it’s already been converted to a 9v supply via a jack - I swapped that out and got rid of some of the clipped off wiring.
I’ve only managed a 10 minute play through it but it works perfectly. I’m enjoying it set fairly shallow as a subtle tremolo and it fits an unused space on my board perfectly.
When I bought it as broken/for parts - I planned to fix it up and sell it again but I might hold onto it for a bit to see if it’s worth keeping. It’s crazy to think it’s 50 years old.
